FACSIMILE APPARATUS

• US 20150092249A1
• Filed: 09/25/2014
• Published: 04/02/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Original Assignee: Brother Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha (Brother Industries Limited)
• Inventors: WATANABE, Junji, NISHIKAWA, Naoki
• Granted Patent: US 9,277,065 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/406
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00206 Transmitting or receiving computer data via an image communication device, e.g. a facsimile transceiver H04N1/00236 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32702 using digital control signals H04N1/32704, H04N1/32614, H04N1/32771 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/32789 Details of handshaking H04N1/32793, H04N1/32795 and H04N1/32797 take precedence

Abstract

A facsimile apparatus includes a first interface configured to connect to a telephone line; a second interface configured to connect to a network, and a controller. The controller is configured to execute: a detection processing in which the controller detects reception of a signal indicating transmission of facsimile data, and an upload processing in which the controller transmits facsimile data, which is received from a transmission source apparatus to an upload destination server, which is an upload destination apparatus. When executing the upload processing, the controller is configured to further execute an obtaining processing in which the controller obtains a reception capability of the upload destination server, a determining processing in which the controller determines capability information on the basis of the reception capability, and a notification processing in which the controller notifies the transmission source apparatus of the capability information determined in the determination processing.

Claims

1. A facsimile apparatus comprising:

a first interface configured to connect to a telephone line;

a second interface configured to connect to a network, and

a controller,

wherein the controller is configured to execute;

a detection processing in which the controller detects reception of a signal indicating transmission of facsimile data;

an obtaining processing in which the controller obtains a reception capability of an upload destination server;

a reception processing in which the controller receives facsimile data from a transmission source apparatus through the first interface; and

an upload processing in which the controller transmits the facsimile data received in the reception processing to the upload destination server through the second interface,

wherein when executing the upload processing, the controller is configured to further execute;

a determination processing in which the controller determines, in response to the reception of the signal indicating the transmission of the facsimile data, capability information on the basis of at least the reception capability obtained in the obtaining processing, and

a notification processing in which the controller notifies the transmission source apparatus of the capability information determined in the determination processing before the controller starts to receive the facsimile data from the transmission source apparatus in the reception processing.

2. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:

notify the transmission source apparatus of the capability information through the first interface in the notification processing, and

determine the capability information by converting the reception capability into a parameter communicable with the transmission source apparatus through the first interface in the determination processing.

3. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain a free capacity of a storage area of the upload destination server, as the reception capability in the obtaining processing, and

wherein when the free capacity is equal to or less than a capacity threshold, the controller is configured to determine, as at least one of a resolution, an image size, a color setting and a data format, a parameter relating to the capability information such that a data amount to be transmitted to the upload destination server becomes lees than a data amount to be transmitted to the upload destination server when the free capacity is greater than the capacity threshold, in the determination processing.

4. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to determine, as at least one of a resolution, an image size, a color setting and a data format, a parameter relating to the capability information such that a processing amount of conversion processing for the facsimile data becomes smaller, in the determination processing.

5. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:

further obtain (a) a conversion capability of a conversion capability of a conversion server configured to convert the facsimile data, and (b) a conversion capability of the facsimile apparatus in the obtaining processing;

when the communication with the conversion server is possible, determine the capability information based on the basis of the obtained reception capability, the obtained conversion capability of the conversion server and the obtained conversion capability of the facsimile apparatus in the determination processing; and

when the communication with the conversion server is not possible, determine the capability information not based on the obtained conversion capability of the conversion server but based on the obtained reception capability and the obtained conversion capability of the facsimile apparatus in the determination processing.

6. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to execute a load judging processing, and

wherein when it is judged in the load judging processing that an operating load of the facsimile apparatus is higher than a load threshold, the controller determines, as at least one of a resolution, an image size, a color setting and a data format, a parameter relating to the capability information such that a processing amount of image processing for the facsimile data, which is performed in the facsimile apparatus, is less than a processing amount when the operating load of the facsimile apparatus is equal to or less than the load threshold, in the determination processing.

7. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to execute an error rate judging processing, and

wherein when it is judged in the error rate judging processing that an error occurrence probability between the facsimile apparatus and the upload destination server is higher than a probability threshold, the controller determines the capability information not based on a reception capability of the upload destination server but based on a reception capability of the facsimile apparatus in the determination processing.

8. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain, as the reception capability, a communication speed between the facsimile apparatus and the upload destination server in the obtaining processing.

9. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 8, wherein when the communication speed between the facsimile apparatus and the upload destination server is less than a speed threshold, the controller determines, as at least one of a resolution, an image size, a color setting and a data format, a parameter relating to the capability information such that a data amount to be transmitted to the upload destination server becomes less than a data amount to be transmitted to the upload destination server when the communication speed is equal to or greater than the speed threshold, in the determination processing.

10. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to execute a selection processing in which the controller selects a type of the reception capability of the upload destination server obtained in the obtaining processing.

11. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain, as the reception capability, at least information indicating whether communication with the upload destination server is possible, in the obtaining processing.

12. The facsimile apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to obtain, as the reception capability, a data format that can be processed by the upload destination server, in the obtaining processing.